A comprehensive data loss prevention (DLP) policy seeks to focus on accidental or malicious data losses. DLP policies consider internal and external users as well as define practices to guard against sensitive data. The best DLP policies can also cover wide network integration, not just limiting themselves to certain areas of networking such as email.

Most DLP policies focus on the use of content-level scanning and deep content inspection (DCI) to identify sensitive data and protect it. DLP policies target activities at three levels:

• Client level (data in operation)
• Network level (data in transit)
• Storage level (data at rest)

You should take the following actions when designing a DLP policy for your organization:

• Consider any risk assessments your company has performed.
• Incorporate key members of management from the various departments of your organization.
• Identify the most sensitive data of the organization.
• Outline a phased implementation of DLP and incorporate guidelines for tracking the success of the initiative.
• Attempt to minimize any negative impacts on the business caused by the policy implementation.
• Periodically review the DLP policy.
• Include the appropriate event-monitoring specifics as they apply to the policy.